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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2017)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017 Port: Boat pulled out to prevent further contamination Continued from Page 1A Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Theft from vehicles is a common occurrence during this time of year. Theft wave: ‘We have a huge problem right now with drug addiction and drug-related crimes’ Continued from Page 1A ‘Take junk’ In Redburn’s case, more expensive items like a phone charger, a tactical flashlight and a bottle of cologne were in the car. Instead, just two cheap pocket knives were gone. “They passed up a whole bunch of stuff to take junk,” Redburn said. Items police have recov- ered include sunglasses, phones, vaporizers, ciga- rettes, change, hunting equip- ment and ammunition. While not certain what the motives were, Workman said the thieves may have been search- ing for items that could be eas- ily sold — and not identifiable by the owner — in exchange for drugs. He also believes the people involved are locals. “We have a huge problem right now with drug addiction and drug-related crimes,” he said. For Murray, the timing was telling. His surveillance foot- age revealed that the thefts took place after 4:20 a.m. Neighbors on the street start bustling around 5 a.m. on workdays. “He had to have known somehow,” Murray said. “They must be career criminals.” Unnecessary risks Seaside Police Lt. Bruce Holt said thieves typically avoid unnecessary risks. Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Authorities in Warrenton say a recent spike in vehicle break-ins, which began in October and continued into November, took place mostly at night. “Opportunists usually see something in the car and say, ‘Holy smokes, his door is unlocked,’” Holt said. As authorities continue to investigate the theft wave, the venue will likely switch from residential neighborhoods to shopping mall parking lots. Thefts inside cars parked near stores are an annual holi- day tradition for law enforce- ment. Workman said that while unlawful car entries and thefts typically rise this time of year, he does not foresee the recent spree becoming an aggravating factor. The crim- inals involved may have been deterred by the recent arrest. “I think it got out that we were doing more patrols and ramping things up,” Workman said. Nonetheless, police expect thefts to rise again as people leave holiday presents in their cars, unlocked, and hurry from shop to shop. “People go shopping and they’re ready to fill up their cars,” Holt said. “If they’re wrapped, it’s even more intriguing.” Whether at home or else- where, police ask residents to lock their doors and report any suspicious activity. For their part, the Mur- rays are looking into install- ing $600 worth of new secu- rity cameras. It will mark their third security camera upgrade since moving to the area five years ago. Grant: ‘We’re looking to offer as much as we can’ Continued from Page 1A Superintendent Mark Jef- fery said the district is look- ing at the possibility of a 40-by-80-foot building behind the high school at a cost of about $150,000 to $200,000. “Theoretically, we’d like to do it by next fall,” Jeffery said. “But in my experience, that might be an aggressive time schedule.” The school district will cou- ple the career-readiness grant with funds from Measure 98. State voters last year approved approximately $800 per stu- dent to expand college and career-technical offerings and improve dropout prevention. The measure received about half of the money expected by the state Legislature. While the grant helps kick- start the construction of the Warrenton center, the school district is also trying to certify classes such as a student-run hatchery on the Skipanon River and graphic arts as offi- cial career-technical educa- tion programs, Jannusch said. Certification involves getting teachers the right qualifica- tions and aligning classes with postsecondary study such as the fisheries technology pro- gram at Mt. Hood Community College. But the district can get additional funding by get- Port Executive Direc- tor Jim Knight said the Port needs to remove the ves- sel or pay rent to tug- and barge-builder Hyak Tongue Point, which bought the for- mer Navy base from Wash- ington Development Co. after the Port terminated its lease. The boat’s previous owner was Thomas Lewis, according to a Port property seizure list. He came in sev- eral years ago for repairs and abandoned the vessel before it began to sink in the night, Knight said. “The Port, I still would say wisely, pulled that ves- sel out of the water to pre- vent any further contamina- tion of the Columbia River, which was at risk because of the fluids still aboard the vessel,” Knight said. “We, at our expense, pulled it out, tried to track down the owner for compensation and were unable to do that.” The Port seized the Recruit and tried to sell it, but nobody was interested. Ever since, the boat has sat on stands on the tarmac. The Port had a proposal from an excavation com- pany to tear the vessel apart but didn’t initially realize it would also need contrac- tors to remove harmful sub- stances such as dirty bilge water and oil to avoid con- taminating the site, Knight said. The cost of disposing of the vessel adds to the $2 mil- lion staff estimates the Port has lost operating North Tongue Point over the past eight years. Port Commission Presi- dent Frank Spence pointed out how Warrenton Marina staff recently pulled out of the water and demolished the 43-foot fishing boat Western Skies. Port Operations Man- ager Matt McGrath noted that they were on dirt in Warrenton, whereas North Tongue Point is on asphalt feeding into a stormwater treatment system. “With these contractors, there are several of them that can come out of Van- couver and pump the flu- ids out,” McGrath said. “We can get the bilge water out ourselves.” Staff hopes to have new proposals for demolish- ing the boat by the next Port Commission meeting, Knight said. The Daily Astorian Josh Jannusch, center, has been with the Warrenton-Hammond School District for 15 years as a science and technology teacher, and was recently named a vice principal at Warrenton High School. ting students through approved programs of study, he said. The school district’s goal is to start the new programs next year, even if the building isn’t finished, Jannusch said. A $100,000 portion of the grant will help the district expand summer programs at the high school. “The hope is even next summer (to) offer some sum- mer programming around (career-technical education), whether it’s welding, manufac- turing,” Jannusch said. “We’re looking to offer as much as we can here on campus.” The 74-foot fishing boat Recruit was abandoned at North Tongue Point several years ago and towed onto land by the Port of Astoria after it sank. Marijuana: ‘This is a democracy. ... The community has decided’ Continued from Page 1A But according to Kabeise- man, the statement of policy in the comprehensive plan is general, and does not identify any particular uses that are prohibited. None of the iden- tified provisions mention or discuss marijuana in any way. The ordinance that spells out where and how marijuana shops can operate does not violate the plan just because it allows for marijuana facilities to exist, he said. “What I think would improve quality of life and what you think would improve quality of life is not necessarily going to mesh. I love seafood restaurants, but if you are allergic to seafood, your quality of life would be enhanced without them,” Kabeiseman said. “The plan says, ‘the fundamental prin- ciple of the plan is to foster a community with a strong sense of place which pro- vides its residents the qual- ity of life that they desire.’ The plan requires city coun- cilors to consider what qual- ity of life means to the city. The vote of the people is one way they can see it, and Can- non Beach voted to not pro- hibit marijuana facilities.” There were other points Frei had made about the plan the attorney did not address in the memo. The fact Five Zero Trees operates multi- ple stores across Oregon, Frei argues, conflicts with the plan’s guideline to promote “small-scale, family-owned” businesses and the plan’s goal to “encourage the provi- sion of permanent housing in downtown by providing zon- ing incentives for mixed-use structures which incorporate housing.” Kabeiseman said in the interest of time he nar- rowed down some of Frei’s points in an effort to “cap- ture the essence” of his con- cerns about quality of life and character. But Frei disagrees with Kabeiseman’s interpretation. He still asserts issues with the application process that led to the eviction of three residents should be enough for the city to deny Five Zero Trees a business license. “When (the plan) was written, they weren’t think- ing of marijuana stores yet,” Frei said. Other than a sign per- mit, Five Zero Trees has all the appropriate permits to operate, City Planner Mark Barnes said. City Councilor George Vetter said because retail marijuana legalization has been voted on twice — once statewide and again locally — that the outcome of the elections should be respected as what the people want. “This is a democracy, even if the vote was won by 13 votes, the community has decided,” Vetter said. While city council- ors reached a consensus to not move forward with any changes to the comprehen- sive plan, Mayor Sam Steidel said the exercise led him to believe the city should con- sider re-evaluating the com- prehensive plan in its entirety as part of next year’s strate- gic planning — and to think about marijuana retailers as they do it.